Meet the 2023 Switzer Fellows
In 2023, twenty new fellows joined the Switzer Fellowship Network of over 700 Switzer Fellows located across the country and around the world. Read about them and their work below. To find information on fellowship alumni, please visit the Fellow Directory where you can search by name, region, and area of expertise.
Zeltzin Angon Gonzalez
UCLA, MA, Urban and Regional Planning
Zeltzin hopes to continue to create resilient, healthy cities by finding the connecting points between the built and natural environment through a lens of design, geospatial analysis, and participatory planning.
Nia Bartolucci
Boston University, PhD, Marine Biogeochemistry
Nia studies how climate change and other anthropogenic impacts are affecting the biogeochemistry and ecosystem function of coastal wetlands.
Ben Clark
Stanford University, JD / MS, Law / Environment & Resources
An aspiring movement lawyer, Ben is focused on advancing environmental justice, alleviating poverty, and defending workers’ rights in communities burdened by the fossil fuel industry.
Abby Cunniff
UC Santa Cruz, PhD, Environmental Studies
Abby Cunniff studies the intersection of prison labor and climate change adaptation work, looking at the recent history of California-based programs and interventions made by prison abolitionists.
Claudia Diezmartínez
Boston University, PhD, Earth & Environment
Claudia studies how cities across the United States are designing, financing, and implementing policies that serve not only to mitigate or adapt to climate change, but also to improve social justice in urban communities.
Kenzo Esquivel
UC Berkeley, PhD, Environmental Science, Policy, & Management
Kenzo investigates the barriers that organic farmers face in adopting soil health practices in the Central Coast of California, and the resulting impact of different forms of farm management on soil biodiversity and soil-based ecosystem services.
Darcey Evans
UC Santa Cruz, PhD, Anthropology
Darcey examines the politics and ecological consequences of Atlantic salmon aquaculture. In particular, she focuses on the spread of salmon viruses to describe how salmon aquaculture can have harmful social and environmental effects beyond farm boundaries.
Nākoa Farrant
UC Santa Barbara, PhD, Environmental Science and Management
Nākoa is determined to address Hawaiʻi’s food insecurity and perpetuate Hawaiian knowledge to restore a state of ʻāina momona (abundance). He investigates how former sugarcane fields in Hawaiʻi could be managed to meet local sustainability goals.
Wes Gobar
Yale University, Master of Environmental Management
A climate and racial justice organizer, Wes is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Black environmental networking & career development organization BlackOak Collective, and co-founder of Evergreen Action.
Daniel Gonzalez
UC Riverside, PhD, Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Daniel studies aerosol behavior and its impact on air quality. His journey as a first-generation student has shaped his determination to drive positive change for the environment and disadvantaged communities.
Patrick Houston
Tufts University, MA, Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy
Patrick is an organizer and activist whose studies are focused on energy grid and building decarbonization, and community wealth building in low-income and working communities of color.
Rafeed Hussain
University of Rhode Island, MA, Marine Affairs
Rafeed's research focuses on offshore wind development perceptions and impacts on coastal communities. Although Rafeed has a brain trained in natural and social sciences, his heart lies in photography and science communication.
Dyanna Jaye
MIT, Master of City Planning, focus in Environmental Policy and Planning
Dyanna is studying policies to guide long-haul economic transition pathways to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. Before graduate school, Dyanna organized with grassroots movements to design and win climate policy for over a decade.
Sebastian Moreno
UMass Amherst, PhD, Environmental Conservation
In an increasingly urbanizing world, Sebastian aims for his work to increase science and nature accessibility for historically marginalized and excluded communities, which will ultimately help in the conservation of our natural environment.
Mackenzie Roeder
University of Maine, PhD, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Kenzie is a driven integrative evolutionary biologist and avian conservation geneticist with a specialization in the ecology and conservation of tidal saltmarsh endemic birds.
Vida Sanchez
UC Davis, MS, Environmental Engineering
Vida dreams of self-determined Black, Indigenous, and/or migrant farmworker communities providing the human right to safe and affordable access to clean water, air, food, and shelter for all in California’s Central Valley and beyond.
Cielo Sharkus
UMass Amherst, PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Cielo's mission is to contribute to restorative climate resilience and develop equity-based mitigation strategies to mitigate the disparate impact climate change has on historically marginalized communities.
DeNarae Stewart
San Jose State University, MS, Environmental Studies
DeNarae investigates factors influencing the consumption of hair care products in Black communities and strives to facilitate the equitable transfer of information and resources needed to create and promote viable, sustainable consumption efforts in underrepresented communities.
Itzel Vasquez-Rodriguez
UCLA, Master of Public Policy
Itzel is passionate about water justice policy and ensuring all Californians have access to safe and affordable drinking water. She has a background in legislation, research, non-profit work, and advocacy in communities of color and Indigenous communities.
Katelynn Warner
University of Vermont, PhD, Natural Resources
Katelynn studies the ecological mechanisms driving toxic cyanobacteria blooms to further understand when and why cyanobacteria produce harmful toxins that inhibit recreational uses of freshwater lakes.